Charlotte County Florida Weekly

THE GUITAR ARMY’S LAST STAND

New parking regulations deal the iconic musical group a crippling blow



 

 

Every Thursday night for decades, Punta Gorda’s Gilchrist Park has been occupied by an army sometimes numbering more than 100 strong … a homegrown, grassroots militia … an irresistible force whose soldiers wield — not guns — but guitars, banjos, violins, accordions, drums, even kazoos.

They are known as the Guitar Army, for short. The Punta Gorda Guitar Army and Neo-Beatnik Revolutionary Ensemble is the official full name for this iconic but unofficial — and unorganized — group. Becoming an official organization might be a key to winning a skirmish against the Punta Gorda City Council regarding parking regulations that have caused this once-massive movement to dwindle.

The top of the Herald Court Parking Garage was one venue during Gilchrist Park renovations. COURTESY CHRISY RELITZ

The top of the Herald Court Parking Garage was one venue during Gilchrist Park renovations. COURTESY CHRISY RELITZ

The Guitar Army started as a casual, makeshift group of just a few musicians coming to Gilchrist Park to play their individual instruments way back in the 1980s. Since the beginning, the group has enjoyed carte blanche with regards to parking at Gilchrist.

But no more.

Gilchrist closed in January 2017 for a major overhaul. It was shut down for about a year and has since reopened with a new seawall, pet area, wider walking paths, upgrades to its pavilions and new paved parking spots.

Musicians and spectators have dwindled.

Musicians and spectators have dwindled.

The Guitar Army assumed that its return to the park would be standard operating procedure. However, the reopening of the park also brought a SNAFU in the form of a new rule: No parking on the grass.

The new parking spots are farther away than the old ones, which previously allowed musicians and attendees alike a quick walk to the famed gazebos where many a minstrel has strummed a guitar, banjo and played numerous other instruments over the years.

Now the Guitar Army is in a state of upheaval because, as it turns out, the parking dilemma could be a deal-breaker for the musical army that has been entrenched at Gilchrist for decades.

During season, more than 100 musicians would play and more than 1,500 would watch in the days before the Gilchrist Park renovations — and parking restrictions.

During season, more than 100 musicians would play and more than 1,500 would watch in the days before the Gilchrist Park renovations — and parking restrictions.

Retreat but no surrender

How popular has the Guitar Army been? Many in the group estimate that more than 100 musicians show up on any given Thursday, and upwards of 1,500 onlookers attend in season.

“Folks have been playing music at Gilchrist Park since the 1980s,” said Michael Haymans, a Punta Gorda attorney and resident who has been one of the more outspoken advocates for the Guitar Army.

Due to the new parking regulations, he said, a recent gathering dwindled to only about 10 musicians, and as few spectators.

Mr. Haymans is a longtime musician who has spent countless nights over the years entertaining many a resident and tourist at Gilchrist. He credits the late Steve Blackwell for coming up with the group’s name.

For the year that Gilchrist Park was closed, the Guitar Army sought other venues to ply its trade, attempting to organize at the nearby Herald’s Court parking garage, Monty’s Restaurant and Pizzeria and the Punta Gorda History Park. The showings were sporadic, at best.

“We tried to move it,” Mr. Haymans said. “The problem is there’s no method of communicating because there isn’t an organization. People only know about this because of word of mouth across the years.”

While Mr. Haymans expressed appreciation to the City Council for accommodating the group over the decades on Thursday and, in recent years, Tuesday nights as well, he reiterated the collective Guitar Army’s fears with comments at a March 21 council meeting.

“It’s been a grassroots, organic gathering. … The music scene here is unbelievably good, and it has spilled out of this park,” he said. “(But) we realized in the year it was under reconstruction how fragile the music scene is at the park. … Because this is not an event, it’s really a happening and it’s organic, the current parking is inadequate, and allowing us to park on the grass on Tuesday and Thursday nights would allow us to accommodate this tradition.”

At the City Council meeting, a wave of reinforcements in the form of longtime Guitar Army participants, listeners and supporters came to the decimated group’s defense.

The walking wounded

The new parking situation has rankled many of the older musicians, many of which bring their own equipment, including amps and other speaker setups, in order to get the sound out to the typically sprawling crowds. A number of older attendees mentioned their own physical woes just getting out to the event at all.

“It wasn’t just the musicians that were parking there,” said one resident, “just a lot of people with their chairs.”

“In 2016, every pavilion was full — there were hundreds of people,” said Denise Edmonds. “I always carried my own chair, and my husband always dropped me off because some of us are challenged. I’m not disabled. I’m sure the park with all its improvements complies with (ADA standards).”

Ken Blevins, who’s been playing with the Guitar Army since the late ’90s, told the council he appreciated the new ramp to accommodate his newly replaced hips. He also reminisced about the ability to park in the grass before, when groups would make their own gathering of cars, saying it created a “festival atmosphere” for him.

The new parking distance amounts to those who can park closest to the action now have to walk about an extra block. Ms. Edmonds says that poses a problem for the many older residents of Punta Gorda who come out to enjoy the music.

“Not everybody, but lots of us, have replaced joints, arthritis, cancer, breathing problems, you name it,” she lamented. “We don’t like to be reminded (that) we can’t walk that extra block.”

Another local musician told the council he purchased a home in Punta Gorda specifically to make it his part-time residence and be a part of the Guitar Army tradition.

“There’s quite a community there. … They came together for that reason, for the music.”

Chris Collins said she met her husband at the park on a music night.

“It is not just the music; it’s the community,” she said. “If you’ve never been a part of it, you have no idea how wonderful it is.”

She, along with several others, pleaded with the City Council to help the Guitar Army live on.

“It is the most amazing thing that we’ve had it this long, and I fear we’re losing it. We should not. … Please don’t let this die because we don’t have someplace to park our cars.”

Some simply came to the council meeting to offer their own parking proposals, even scouting the park themselves and bringing very specific items to the table.

Perhaps a designated musician parking in certain areas? A trial period allowing parking in the grass to see how it goes? What about a trolley service to shepherd people from the new, farther parking from their cars to the gazebos?

City Councilwoman Lynne Matthews even broached the idea of reconsidering a place where there used to be parking near the gazebos.

“We need to revisit the entire parking scenario down there,” she said. “It’s not adequate, in my opinion.”

Councilman Gary Wein suggested developing another park area entirely with other city land and creating parking for these types of events.

It was evident that most council members were agonizing over the displacement of the Guitar Army, but many saw no avenue to compromise — except one.

A Mexican standoff

“The Guitar Army is a victim of its own success,” said city attorney David Levins. “It has evolved into a gathering of hundreds of people, and a thousand people. A festival, an event, a special event. To suggest it’s the same informal gathering that existed years ago, I think, is a falsehood.”

Councilman Jaha Cummings cited a recent homeowners meeting where residents wanted no exceptions regarding this new parking rule but asked the council to consider several options for making an exception for the Guitar Army. But Mr. Levins said the possible liability issues can no longer be ignored.

“We have facilitated this group by keeping the bathrooms open, turning off the sprinklers,” he noted. “We have to some extent encouraged the gathering at the park on separate occasions without the kinds of infrastructure, physical and manpower, that we would otherwise require of gatherings of that nature.”

“There’s really no give or take in this situation because nobody wants to take any responsibility,” said Mayor Rachel Keesling. “The park is not even finished yet… I have to protect the assets of this city, I have to consider liability and I have to consider residents that live adjacent to that park.”

One caveat that seems to exacerbate the situation is that, during certain special events, the city will allow vendors to park on some of the same grassy areas of Gilchrist Park being denied the Guitar Army. The key to this allowance is that the event has to be sanctioned by a recognized organization. Otherwise, the thinking goes, anyone should be allowed to park on the grass at any time, private citizen as well as vendor.

There has to be a standard — and organization is it, so far as the city’s concerned. That would be the one and only way, at this point, the Guitar Army could claim victory in the parking standoff.

But that’s not as easy as it sounds.

“Part of the charm of (the Guitar Army) is that they’re not organized,” Councilman Wein said. “Maybe it’s time they should, but then maybe it would lose its charm. … We keep saying we want to have this small-town feature to our personality as a community. I think it’s something we want to preserve any way we can.”

City Councilwoman Nancy Prafke hopes the Guitar Army’s best days are ahead of them, but also agreed with many of her colleagues that, while the lack of organization provides the charm of the group, it might be time to take a different tack.

“Perhaps … since it’s grown, it’s time to formalize what’s happening,” she advised. “There’s a lot of discussion and I’m not sure I have the answer.”

“I understand the resistance to organize. … This is a time when there’s lots of litigation and lots of people standing in line to sue the city for things as simple as this,” Mr. Levins said. “My recommendation is they find a way to organize themselves to the extent that they can apply for the appropriate permits.”

Ms. Prafke echoed Mayor Keesling’s concerns, citing a the recent re-sodding of the grass at Laishley Park, which turned into a dust bowl after patrons were permitted to park on the grass there.

A solution is not imminent, and Ms. Prafke said it would likely not make another City Council agenda any time soon. Staff is being directed to review the parking east of Gill Street, a road near Gilchrist Park, and report back with their findings.

On Thursday, March 22, with a dismal turnout at Gilchrist Park — which has long been ground zero for the Guitar Army to set up shop — a handful of the musicians went up to Blue Ridge Park, about 15 miles northwest, to scope out the possibilities there. But only about 10 of them made an appearance there, too.

“We are a specter of the Guitar Army we used to be,” Mr. Haymans said. “It used to be vibrant, and it’s just clinging on right now.”

Guitar Army participant Linda Laine posted a poem on the group’s Facebook page, summing up her feelings about this longstanding tradition — and perhaps touching on many other people’s feelings as well:

The World is in need of the organic sounds of acoustic music. Music that makes us feel something, anything.

Music that has texture, that isn’t packaged in a slick, plastic sleeve. Music that is created to be heard, that breaks through our protective numbing.

Music that lowers our ever-bent elbows and phone-clutching hands.

Music that quiets our conversations.

Music that stops our movement.

Music that creates a feeling of fellowship.

Music that is more than a white noise to help us escape from our thoughts.

The Guitar Army is that music. ¦

One response to “THE GUITAR ARMY’S LAST STAND”

  1. Michael DuPuis says:

    Are only acoustic instruments allowed in this get-together? I’m not talking about loud heavy
    metal, just the tambre of something a little different, somewhat more twangy if you will. Thanks.

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